College graduation season is upon us, and while Americans continue to think it will be tough out there for new graduates, they’re far more optimistic than past years, and fewer are touting the importance of a college degree.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 52% of American Adults think it will be at least somewhat difficult for recent college graduates to find a job in the current economy, down significantly from past years. This includes just 16% who think it will be Very Difficult. A year ago, 71% thought it would be difficult for recent graduates to find a job, but that was down from findings in the high-70s to high-80s since 2011. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on May 2-3, 2018 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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